So a few months ago Son and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. Time has absolutely flown by and we’re loving every single moment. It really feels like just yesterday that I was nervously waiting for her to walk down the aisle…and yet here we are four years on, with a little family of our own!

So naturally, I began to think of what I could give Son for her present. Google taught me that it is customary to give a gift of linen or flowers on the fourth anniversary. Google also suggested a contemporary alternative: appliances.

Hmmmm…linen/flowers or appliances. Tough decision. A bread maker is practical and romantic, right?

No it is not.

I’ll go with flowers. And photography.

So under the guise of a normal work day I headed off to the flower markets with Son none the wiser. I filled my car with as many flowers as I could fit and went to the studio for a day of medium format view camera fun (Sinar P3, 90mm, eVolution 75 33 mega pixel back for any gear geeks).

The shots below are the result and I managed to print and frame the first image of the tulips to give to Son on the day without her knowing a thing! It’s only the second time I’ve tried to keep something a secret from her; the first was organising the ring to propose and it is not something I enjoy. In fact I was so anxious in the lead up to the proposal that I was completely sick on the day and actually had to have a nap in between popping the question and going out to dinner to celebrate! Yep, I don’t do secrets very well! So it was with great pleasure and relief that after a couple of months of planning I was able to finally give her the print and see the big smile on her beautiful face!

It’s true, shooting weddings is a great gig. It’s always heaps of fun and I get to meet and photograph amazing people on the most important day of their lives.

But…it’s also a massive responsibility. There are no second chances. There are no do-overs. Miss a moment and it’s gone…forever. This brings an intensity to every wedding that I absolutely love however I cannot remember one single day where I didn’t feel at least slightly nervous before it began. Even after hundreds of weddings the butterflies manage to find a way in.

Shooting a close friend’s wedding is no different. In fact it’s probably worse! Add to this the fact that these two are perhaps just slightly more discerning than your average couple as Nige is an award-winning photographer and Lizzy is an incredible designer for some of Australia’s most prominent magazines and…yeah, let’s just say I kind of wanted to do a good job!

The pressure was of course completely of my own making and as always come game time, the nerves had dissolved and I was free to enjoy the privilege of capturing the wedding of two of my best mates.